NORTHAM SEEKS INPUT ON IMPROVING CHILD CARE, EARLY EDUCATION

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration is seeking public input on how to improve early education and child care options in the state. Northam’s office announced Thursday that the state is seeking comments through the end of the month on the administration’s proposed strategic plan to improve school readiness.

VIRGINIA HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER PITCHES IDEA FOR CURBING URBAN GUN VIOLENCE

The Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 claimed the lives of 32 people. The Virginia Beach shooting in May resulted in 12 deaths. In the 12 years between those mass shootings, more than 3,000 people were killed in shootings in Virginia. Most of those deaths received little attention from politicians.

WILL SHOOTINGS SWAY VOTERS? LOOK FIRST TO VIRGINIA RACES

At door after door, house after house, Dan Helmer, a Democrat running for the Virginia House of Delegates, found voters of both parties telling him one thing as he canvassed for support Tuesday night: Do something about the mass shootings. “I have it on the TV right now,” Reza Darvishian, a State Department security engineer, told Mr. Helmer on the porch of his home. “I’m sick of listening to all of this stuff.”

SIMONDS FOCUSES ON DRUG PRICES

Sometimes, the important thing about campaigning is what you hear. For Shelly Simonds, seeking to represent Newport News in the General Assembly, that’s included listening to how big a worry the price of medicine is to many constituents — and something that a Maryland legislator she called in her fundraising push mentioned. “This is something that’s really risen to the top as we talk to people on the doors,” she said.

VITA RESOLVES 'MATERIAL BREACH' CONTRACT ISSUES WITH NEW IT VENDOR

Virginia has dropped its claim of a contractual breach by a company that is central to a new system for providing information technology services to state executive branch agencies and employees. Last month, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, known as VITA, withdrew its allegation of a “material breach” in the $165 million, five-year contract it signed two years ago with Science Applications International Corp., based in Reston.

HOW COULD OLD COAL MINES HELP DATA CENTERS?

Could water from old coal mines become an incentive that attracts data center projects to far Southwest Virginia? The GO Virginia Region One Council gave preliminary approval Tuesday to funding for Project Oasis, which would explore that unusual concept.

SPANBERGER SAYS SHE CAN'T MAKE JUDGMENT ON WHETHER TRUMP IS RACIST

While some Democratic presidential candidates are condemning President Donald Trump as a racist following the El Paso, Texas, shooting, Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, took a different tone. Asked during an interview Thursday with conservative radio host John Fredericks whether she thinks Trump is a racist, Spanberger said she was unsure.

CONNOLLY JOINS CALL FOR IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY INTO TRUMP

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D) on Thursday became the latest member of the Virginia congressional delegation to call for an impeachment inquiry against President Trump. Connolly, who is serving his sixth term in Congress, is so far the longest-serving Virginia representative to call for impeachment. He follows Democratic Reps. Don Beyer and Jennifer Wexton in Virginia

HAMPTON ROADS MERCHANTS JOIN CBD ‘GOLD RUSH'

To say Hampton Roads business owners are experimenting in CBD products might be a bit of an understatement. Along just a few blocks of Granby Street in Norfolk, at least three businesses are advertising products with the chemical compound. At aLatte Cafe, customers can get CBD added to cold drinks for an extra $1.75. A sidewalk sign further down advertises CBD cocktails at St. Germain, and a poster of CBD oils fills the window of MacArthur Pharmacy.

LIVE HORSE RACING RETURNS TO NEW KENT'S COLONIAL DOWNS

As the parking lots outside Colonial Downs swelled with cars Thursday afternoon, the grandstands at the historic gambling facility filled with spectators, and folks looking to put money on horse races for the first time in nearly five years.

BUSINESS ISSUES, BIG AND SMALL, ADDRESSED AT ANNUAL SUMMIT

Local business owners, regional elected officials, and Valley economic development professionals gathered for the seventh annual Valley Business Summit on Thursday at the Robert E. Plecker Workforce Center at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave. Bettina Ring, the secretary of agriculture and forestry for Virginia, gave the keynote presentation during the event’s opening ceremony, touching on subjects such as agriculture and broadband.

I-81 COMMITTEE TO HOST FIRST MEETING

It has been more than two months since legislation took effect creating the Interstate 81 Advisory Committee, and by Tuesday afternoon the group will have its first meeting. Per invitation by the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment, the public can attend the committee’s first meeting to be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Lexington.

THE TRUMP APPOINTEE WHO’S PUTTING WHITE SUPREMACISTS IN JAIL

On June 28, in the main courtroom of Charlottesville’s federal courthouse, U.S. Attorney Thomas T. Cullen rose to his feet. It had been nearly two years since white supremacists brawled with counterprotesters at a violence-filled rally nearby; now, standing still and stoic, the tall, lean Cullen addressed the court regarding the sentencing of James Fields Jr.

PIPELINE COMPANY QUESTIONED OVER REVOKED PERMITS

Investment research analysts focused on the stalled Atlantic Coast Pipeline during a July 31 earnings call in which Dominion Energy CEO Thomas Farrell assured them the $7.8 billion project would resume construction next year following a favorable U.S. Supreme Court decision. “We are pleased that the Solicitor General filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of the Fourth Circuit Cowpasture decision as it relates to ACP’s crossing underneath the Appalachian Trail,” he said.

ATLANTIC COAST PIPELINE COULD SEE MORE COURT ACTION

Both sides of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline debate are bracing for another potential trip to court, this time the United States Supreme Court. In December 2018, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. Forest Service had no legal authority to grant a right-of-way for the ACP to cross United States Forest Service lands and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. In June, Dominion Energy responded by filing an appeal, asking the Supreme Court to overturn the Fourth Circuit Court’s ruling.

MAYOR SAYS ALEXANDRIA WANTS NO PART OF A FEDERAL SHELTER FOR DETAINED IMMIGRANT YOUTH

The city of Alexandria has responded to the prospect of the federal government establishing a permanent shelter for detained unaccompanied immigrant youth within its borders: No thank you.

RICHMOND JUDGE DECLINES TO INTERVENE IN BID TO REMOVE AGELASTO

A legal challenge aimed at ousting Richmond Councilman Parker Agelasto for moving out of the district he was elected to represent died Thursday in Richmond Circuit Court. Judge William R. Marchant declined to issue a declaratory judgment deeming Agelasto’s seat on the City Council vacant

RICHMOND CONSIDERS COMMITTING MILLIONS IN TAX REVENUE TO BUILD THE STATE’S LARGEST ARENA

Richmond’s mayor promises taxpayers won’t be left holding the bag and the city’s financial advisers say it’ll fill public coffers, not drain them. But a proposal to build a 17,500-seat arena downtown is fueling deep skepticism in a city where residents have long complained about neglect of basic services like schools and roads in favor of shiny development deals that don’t always pan out.

NORFOLK SHERIFF APPEARS TO BE QUIETLY ENDING CONTROVERSIAL IMMIGRATION DETAINEE PROGRAM

After quietly jailing hundreds of suspected illegal immigrants for federal authorities over a year and a half, the Norfolk sheriff hasn’t held any for nearly six months. And he’s privately said he will let the city jail’s agreement with the federal immigration agency lapse, according to one activist.

CLOSING OLD LANDFILL COMES WITH $12-MILLION PRICE TAG

Under pressure from state regulators, Fauquier County probably will spend $12 million to close its old landfill and dramatically reduce the flow of toxic liquid it produces. The county last year spent $2.4 million to pump 13.5 million gallons of “leachate” from the landfill complex south of Warrenton and haul it away for treatment.

CULPEPER PURSUES STATE GRANT TO INSTALL INTERNET FIBER ALONG JAMES MADISON HIGHWAY

Culpeper County is pursuing a $1.3 million state grant to install 18 miles of internet fiber along U.S. Route 15 in conjunction with Orange and Madison counties. The initiative is being called DOT COM—which stands for Delivery of Technology to Culpeper, Orange and Madison. Laura Loveday with the Culpeper County Economic Development Office gave a presentation Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors

TOWN OF WASHINGTON WINS FIGHT TO KEEP ITS HISTORIC POST OFFICE

After a long hard fought battle, the Town of Washington has preserved its centuries-old post office. Rather than issuing any formal statement regarding its decision to reverse course and keep the circa 1804 post office within the county seat, the U.S. Postal Service simply allowed developer Tim Tedrick of Mid Atlantic Postal Properties to appear at Washington Town Hall last evening (Wednesday) with new post office site plans in hand.

MADISON BOS APPROVES TOUGH SOLAR FACILITIES ZONING AMENDMENT

Madison County now has a large-scale commercial solar energy facilities amendment to its zoning ordinance. A key element includes limiting such facilities to industrial-zoned land which could keep many companies from entering the Madison market.

PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY BROADBAND ACCESS IMPROVING, BUT THERE'S STILL ROOM FOR GROWTH

Ben Farmer, who has served as the Callands-Gretna District supervisor for the past year and a half, has received complaints from residents and businesses throughout his district about the lack of broadband internet access. But the number of complaints has declined significantly during his tenure.

SAMIRAH IS WRONG. CIVILITY DOES MATTER.

The state legislator who disrupted President Trump’s recent speech at Jamestown has a new target: “The Virginia Way.” Del. Ibraheem Samirah, D-Fairfax County, has an essay in The Atlantic in which he defends his actions: “Virginia House Speaker Kirk Cox said that my disruption was ‘inconsistent with common decency.’ “What Cox and others really meant was that my behavior was inconsistent with the Virginia Way.

MOSTLY SELF-INFLICTED, FREITAS’ WOES WORSEN

Two area legislators are facing two unusual controversies. The potential political impact of the two incidents — one involving Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, and the other, Rep. Denver Riggleman — varies greatly. The problem facing Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, is of a serious nature. It will keep Mr. Freitas off the ballot for the 30th House District this fall.

DROP JEFF DAVIS' NAME

As the commonwealth prepares to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in English North America this month, it’s only fitting that the letters spelling out the name of the Confederacy’s only president came down last week from an archway not far from where they landed.

WAI: CLIMATE CHANGE IS MAKING US SICKER

Chances are you’ve noticed that it’s been very hot outside lately. More than 1,000 Virginians had to seek emergency medical care for heat related illness in July alone. This is almost double the amount from the same period in 2018. But extreme heat is not just a problem here in Virginia.

Dr. Homan Wai Wai is an Internal Medicine physician at Inova Fairfax Hospital and serves on the Steering Committee of Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action.

KOHLER: WILL 2019 BE THE YEAR THAT VIRGINIA POLITICIANS DELIVER FOR WOMEN?

Women are a political force in Virginia. This is especially true for women of color, who comprise a growing percentage of the state’s adult population and whose votes decided top-of-ticket victories in the state’s 2016 and 2017 elections. According to the data company Catalist, Donald Trump and Ed Gillespie would have prevailed in Virginia over Hillary Clinton and Ralph Northam, respectively, had women of color stayed home.

Julie Kohler is a Fellow in Residence at the National Women’s Law Center and a frequent writer on women and politics.

AS SUMMER CAMPS TURN ON FACIAL RECOGNITION, PARENTS DEMAND: MORE SMILES, PLEASE

When David Hiller’s two daughters checked into Camp Echo, a bucolic sleep-away camp in Upstate New York, they relinquished their cellphones for seven idyllic weeks away from their digital lives. But not Hiller: His phone rings 10 times a day with notifications from the summer camp’s facial-recognition service, which alerts him whenever one of his girls is photographed enjoying their newfound independence, going water-skiing or making a new friend